Change text size
Below are some examples of people to whom we have given a hand up.
Territorial soldier Jason Sylvestre was stationed with his regiment at Basrah Air Station in Southern Iraq in 2004. On a routine task into Kuwait, the Land Rover he was travelling in crashed, throwing him from the vehicle and he suffered debilitating back injuries.
Jason, who'd been made redundant before his posting to Iraq, was left struggling with financial commitments and living in unsuitable accommodation in a tower block. The ABF assisted him with debt relief and paid his removal costs to a specially adapted home for disabled ex-servicemen in Balham, South London. The Fund has also helped secure him a computer to learn new work skills.
Under its nomination scheme for sheltered housing for the elderly, the Army Benevolent Fund helped to re-house Patrick Burgess - a former Devon & Dorset Regiment National Serviceman, and father of a serving warrant officer. He had been assaulted and harassed by a young neighbour for several years, but the council had been unable to relocate him. Within two months of being placed on the ABF's list, he received the keys of his new flat in Gloucestershire.
Thanks to the Benevolent Fund, Patrick can now enjoy his retirement. He says: "After four years of hell, it's like living in heaven."
Keith Goodman was serving with the Devon and Dorsets in Northern Ireland in 1985, when he was seriously wounded by terrorist bomb. The explosion left him with a badly damaged spine and shrapnel permanently in his body, confining him to a wheelchair.
Keith was keen to keep active and fit, and an ABF grant of £1,900 towards the cost of a specially adapted hand powered trike was the perfect solution. Keith describes the freedom of using the trike as a “brilliant experience after being limited to a wheelchair for so long.”
After years of struggling to care for their sons Leon 34 and Michael 16, who both suffer from cerebral palsy and are wheelchair bound, David Powell, who served with the REME, and his wife Juliana decided to try to get their home adapted to help them care for their sons.
The ABF awarded the Powell’s a grant of £7,500, a substantial help towards the total cost of £40,000 needed for the home modifications. David said: “It has been such a relief and we are extremely grateful” Juliana said that the home adaptations have “changed our lives. Our sons can be more independent now and get around the house freely.”
Dean Widd played the trombone in the band of The Dragoon Guards from 1991 to 1997. A year later heralded the birth of his son Arryn. But joy then turned to distress when, at age four, the boy was diagnosed with the severe and progressive wasting disease, Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. A £5,000 grant from the Army Benevolent Fund has helped the family adapt their Stirling home to meet the long-term needs of their son, now eight.
His father says: "I'd just like to say an extremely huge thank you to the Army Benevolent Fund for making such a difference to Arryn's life."
A grant of £550 in October 2005 helped pay for a specialist helmet called a STARband for baby Pyper - the daughter of an Edinburgh-based Private in The Scots Guards. Pyper was diagnosed with Plagiocephaly (a deformation of the skull) and needed urgent treatment to mould her head back into shape.
Her mother Tasmin Valentine said: "I'd heard about the Army Benevolent Fund before, but I didn't know they did things like this... I'd just like to say thank you very much really. We wouldn't be where we are now if it wasn't for them."
Corporal Alastair Johnson of 16 Signal Regiment was involved in a motorbike accident in Germany in September 2004. He woke up four weeks later to be told he had broken his spine at chest level and would never walk again. The Army Benevolent Fund was able to support him with a grant of £1,535 towards a custom-built, titanium 'Max Lite' wheelchair. He is now continuing his rehabilitation and is a member of a wheelchair basketball team.
"I'd heard about the Army Benevolent Fund while I was still serving," he says, "but I thought they just helped old soldiers - Second World War Vets. Obviously that's not the case. They've been excellent to me."
Ian Ward, a former corporal in the Royal Army Medical Corps, helped evacuate the injured from the troopship Sir Galahad when it was bombed in the Falklands War. Unfortunately, he too was hurt in the process and is wheelchair-bound today. A £1,600 grant from the Army Benevolent Fund has allowed him to replace the heavy carpet in his Aldershot flat with a more wheelchair-friendly surface.
Ian says of his new laminate flooring: "It means I don't run the risk of stopping dead on the carpet and coming out of the wheelchair." The former army medic now hopes to join the Great Britain archery team in the 2012 Paralympics.
Shane Hartop, son of Gunner Hartop, of the 14th Regiment Royal Artillery, went through four wheelchairs in 10 years as he grew up. Shane's condition means his quality of life is greatly restricted by his lack of mobility. The ABF provided a grant towards the provision of an electronically powered wheelchair (EPV) for Shane.
The provision of this EPV has done a huge amount to raise the quality of Shane's life but also to relieve some of the considerable pressure on his family. Gunner Hartop said: "Before this vehicle my wife and I had to be with Shane constantly. He can also take part in sports and games now which is especially important to him."
Doug served in the Second Battalion Royal Green Jackets for almost seven years, after which he returned to university to study for a degree. he soon got into financial difficulties that could have left him homeless and put an end to his career dreams. The ABF provided Doug with substantial grants towards the cost of attending university during every year of his course which meant he could stay on and complete his degree.
Doug now works as a Residential Instructor, for children with behavioural and social problems. Doug said: "I would like to thank the ABF for all their help. Without it I wouldn't be where I am today."
